Baring Your Fangs
by Demon-Maid-Nova-Jigoku
Summary: Hitsuji Mamoru had always known what she wanted, what she was going to do with her life. But when an unexpected move and accident occurs, her dreams are shattered and she is left with no sense of going forward. With a move back to Iwatobi and a reconnection with her old friend Nagisa and a little help from the Iwatobi Swim Club, will her world change for the better?


**Hey guys! It's been awhile since I've written anything. This is going to be my first full length fanfiction ever, so please bear with me when it comes to updates and such. It takes a bit to write, right? Anywho, this is my first Free! Fanfiction as well, so I apologize in advance if there's any OOC moments. I'll try and stay as true to the characters' personalities as possible. Now, I realize that you might be a little put off by the fact that this does have an OC in it, but please give it a try regardless. I try to make my characters well rounded. If you have any suggestions or helpful hints, I will gladly listen to them and keep them in mind. Other than that, I urge you to give my OC a chance. **

**I hope you all enjoy my fanfiction! Reviews and Suggestions are warmly accepted, just please don't flame. There really isn't a need for it, okay?**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Free! Iwatobi Swim Club or its' characters. The respective owners do.**

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_Prologue: Breathe_

Water naturally bares its fangs to all who try to enter its dark depths. It's a defense mechanism that is reasonable and expected. You'd be the same way, if

someone tried to intrude into your home. But the trick with water is to be gentle, to make an opening and slide through. The water may push back, but

remember that if you go along with the current of the water, or carve openings to go through the current, you'll be okay. I know you'll be okay, as long as

you're careful. 

I wasn't. 

My eyes shot open and my body lurched forward into a sitting position. Heavy pants escaped my parted lips as I tried to regain control of my breathing. I could

feel beads of sweat slide down my skin, dark, chocolate brown hair sticking to my face. Normally I would be disgusted with such a feeling, but right now, I

couldn't think. All that flashed in my mind was that day. Over and over and over again it replayed like a broken record. It felt like I was going mad and there

was nothing I could do to stop it. Fear had gripped me so firmly that all I could focus on was the tight feeling in my chest, my inability to breathe and the room

spinning around me. I felt nauseous; I felt sick. My skin was so hot and yet I felt so cold. Curling my legs up to my chest, I placed my head between my knees

and breathed deeply.

_Breathe In._

I'm fine. 

_Breathe Out._

I'm okay. 

_Breathe In._

I'm safe. 

_Breathe Out._

That incident is over and done with: a simple ripple in time that had long cleared away. It wasn't going to come back. So long as I'm careful, I'll be okay. I'll be

okay.

Slowly, I felt myself able to breathe once more. My heart settled into a normal beating pattern and that nauseous, dizzy feeling ebbed away as if it was never

there. I lowered my legs, checking my response as I went. Much to my relief, everything was functioning properly, all except for my right leg, which throbbed

slightly. I rubbed it, trying to get the pain to cease as I raised my head to scan my room, looking for my alarm clock in the darkness. A soft light flooded in from

the moon outside, casting eerie shadows from the objects in my room across my walls. Turning my head to my right, my eyes locked on to the bright red lights

of my alarm clock, the color and glow more vibrant in the darkness than it was when my room was flooded with light. It was irritatingly bright actually and it

hurt my already sensitive eyes. Squinting to read the numbers, I realized quickly that it was early in the morning, much too early. Letting out a sigh I looked

away from the clock and fell backwards on to my bed, my pillows making a soft 'thump' noise as my body came into contact with them. It was too early for this,

too early for the nightmares, the pain, all of it. I had so much to do later on and already setbacks were arising. The whole thing was a mess and I hated it.

This whole mess started when I moved. I was so young when we moved from Japan to America, to further my talent: swimming. It was the only thing I was

really good at as a child, aside from getting into scuffles with other kids. If they weren't such obnoxious little pukes who liked to bully others I wouldn't have

been so inclined to knocking their lights out repeatedly. On most occasions, the whole thing was their fault, and I was blamed for it because I threw the first

punch during a good portion of the fights I got into. Whatever. What's done is done. I got in trouble, but it was always worth it because I was protecting

someone important to me. My best friend was the only reason why I got into fights; it was all to keep him safe because people were so mean to him, or didn't

take him seriously, or listen to him. It was painful to watch, which was why I stepped in. I was always there for him, and I thought that I would continue to be

until we graduated from Senior High School.

That never came to be. When I was eleven, my mom and dad realized how good of a swimmer I was, and figured that if they furthered my education, I could

become someone great. So with that they found jobs in America, and shipped us all off there. I remember the intense training sessions and my lack of friends

due to my rather rotten attitude towards others. I was so so agitated about the sudden move to a completely different country and angry because I was

expected to get along with others who didn't know my language. Of course, I didn't know theirs, but I knew enough to get me along. I just found them so

annoying. My best friend wasn't with me anymore to cheer me up, so I was quite the unhappy and unapproachable kid. Maybe I was just bitter, but, whatever

the reason, I was antisocial and uninterested in anyone else from then on.

Then, at fourteen, something terrible happened, and I couldn't swim anymore. It was like a sharp blow to the chest, as if all the air in my lungs had been forced

out of me. I had worked so hard, gone so far, only to have it ripped out from under me so easily. I was devastated. For a year and a half I was in and out of the

hospital, undergoing intensive therapy. I was more withdrawn from others, and my parents, well, my parents began to fight. Everything was crumbling; the

world that had been built around my swimming was destroyed, and my parents were at a loss. After two years of constant bickering between my parents and

my withdrawal from most human contact, aside from my best friend who I still talked to, my mom and dad decided that it was time to move. Maybe going back

to our home country, away from these unhappy memories and failed expectations, things would get better. We packed up our things, mom and dad got into the

jobs they had before miraculously, and soon, we were on a plane back to Japan.

After taking a week and a half to get everything settled in and the whole task of getting me ready for Iwatobi High, my new school, we were ready to get back

into the swing of things in Japan. Well...almost everyone. I was the only one unsure, the only one who was weary. Everything was the same as I remembered

it, but different all at the same time. Maybe it was me, because I was changed. It felt uncomfortable to me; I was in a current flowing one way, the people

around me moving with it. I alone faced the opposite way, going through it, disrupting the flow.

I heaved a heavy sigh and moved my left arm so it rested over my eyes limply. I didn't want to see any of the light in my room; it would only get in the way of

me trying to sleep. I thought of the sound of the sea, the water lapping up upon the shore and slowly receding, never ceasing, always continuing. Sounds of

the sea always got me to sleep, especially after the accident, and soon enough, I could feel my body relaxing, the pain in my right leg numbing to a

manageable ache that could easily be ignored. And that's what I did; I ignored it. When it was time for me to truly awaken, I would deal with the pain then,

and only then.

When I awoke I would be dealing with a lot of things. 

When I awoke my whole life would be changed again.


End file.
